Welcome to my blog. This blog is all about writing tips for writers and teachers of writing. Twice monthly, I will address one aspect of writing. I will also post tips about no-fee contests and calls for submissions by publishers.
If you would like to know more about me or my books, check out my website at www.nancykellyallen.com

Nancy's Books

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Chapter
books are for kids who are becoming fluent readers and bridge the gap between
early readers and middle grade novels. Let’s take a look at the ingredients for
stirring up a good chapter book.

The main character. The protagonist
should be close to the age of the reader, or a little older. If the character
is totally offbeat, completely strange, make the setting familiar, such as home
or school. Conversely, if the characters are normal, the setting can be
anywhere, even outer space or somewhere in the past or future.

The main character should be “good”
even though s/he might display rude or mischievous behavior at times. Allow the
characters to make mistakes so they can learn from those mistakes by the end of
the story.

Next week, I’ll continue with chapter book tips.

Call
for submissions for young writers:

Crashtest publishes poetry, stories and creative non-fiction in the
form of personal essays, imaginative investigation, experimental
interviews, whatever, but please don’t send us the book report you
wrote for English or your Speech and Debate abstract. Any student
grades nine through twelve from any high school in the country (or
abroad) can submit to Crashtest, but we’d like to know a little bit
about who you are and where you come from. Please include a brief
cover letter in the body of your email submission that tells us a
little bit about yourself, your name and your grade at the very least.Details at http://www.crashtestmag.com/?page_id=8

Call for
submissions for adult writers:

CHICKEN
SOUP: THE CAT DID WHAT? --- Our cats make us smile every day, but sometimes
they really outdo themselves. Whether they came up with the idea themselves, or
you put them in a situation that caused them to do something unusual, we want
to hear about it! Tell us what your cat did that made people want to ask again
and again, "The Cat Did What?" We are looking for first-person true
stories and poems up to 1200 words. Stories can be serious or humorous, or
both. We can't wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and hysterical
stories you have about your cats! Pays $200 and ten copies of the book.

Thanks, Rosi. After this series, I'm going to focus on middle grade novels. I have my first one coming out next spring so I'm going to pass along what I've learned from the experience; hopefully, that will help other writers.

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About Me

My route to writing children’s books has more twists and turns than a winding mountain road. I worked as a social worker and traveled many a winding road, uphill and down, around Hazard, Kentucky. Later, I became an elementary school teacher, and then a school librarian. After spending days introducing books to children, I spent nights writing books for them. At this point I have written over 30 picture books, one chapter book, and one middle grade novel. I have a master’s degree in Education from Morehead State University and a master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky. Home is still in Kentucky in the log cabin in which I grew up. My husband, Larry, and I share our cabin with two canine writer assistants, Jazi and Roxi.